Maria Branyas lived to be a whopping 117 years old and ticked many of the boxes for longevity, according to researchers.
Branyas carried several unique genetic variations that may have helped her live longer.
According to the study, Branyas ate three yogurts a day, which could have contributed to her long life.
Immortality has fascinated humans for centuries, and while we’re not ending death any time soon, we’ve certainly taken some great strides towards much longer lives. In the early 1800s, the global life expectancy was a mere 28.5 years. Today, it has more than doubled, to 73.5 years—and some people are living far longer. Supercentenarians are people who live to the age of 110 or higher. Maria Branyas, one of several people to reach the impressive milestone, was officially the world’s oldest living person when she died in August of 2024 at the age of 117 years and 168 days.
Branyas’ long life wasn’t just a coincidence—and no, she didn’t find some magical fountain of youth, either. A new study from the Josep Carreras Leukemia Research Institute in Spain suggests that Branyas may have had a near-perfect biological recipe for longevity.
Related Story
Researchers studied practically everything about Branyas—her genes, saliva, habits, tissues, stool, and so much more. Using karyotyping (examining her chromosomes), they found several rare genetic variants, including some on DSCAML1—a gene associated with aging brain health, aging and cancer, heart disease, and cognitive retention. Researchers suggest that these anomalies may have contributed to her extreme longevity.
Researchers also looked at several “epigenetic clocks” to determine Branyas’ biological age. According to the study, a sample’s biological age will typically match its “chronological age”—the amount of time that has passed since it came into being. However, this isn’t always the case, and it certainly wasn’t for Branyas. Researchers found that her cells “behaved” like younger cells, even though she was well over 100 years old.
“Our supercentenarian exhibited a much younger biological age than her real chronological age and this occurred in the three different tissues analyzed,” the authors wrote in the study. They also noted that Branyas had a highly efficient metabolism, resulting in more “good” cholesterol and less “bad” cholesterol and inflammation.
But Maria Branyas’ didn’t just win the genetic jackpot. Some of her lifestyle choices may have also contributed to her long life—notably, her love of yogurt. According to the paper, Branyas ate about three yogurts a day, which likely encouraged healthy gut bacteria to grow.
Related Story
“Microorganisms are critical in determining not only the metabolite composition of our body,” the authors wrote, “but also inflammation, intestinal permeability, cognition, and bone and muscle health.”
Other lifestyle factors like good sleeping habits, quality time with friends and family, tactile and mentally stimulating hobbies (gardening, playing with dogs, reading books), and her Mediterranean diet may have also contributed to her impressive lifespan.
While neither I nor you will likely live longer than Branyas, she was only the eighth oldest woman to ever live (the oldest person was Jeanne Louise Calment, who lived a full 122 years and 164 days). That said, there are plenty of key takeaways from the study of her still-exceptionally-long life.
“The picture that emerges from our study,” the researchers wrote, “shows that extremely advanced age and poor health are not intrinsically linked and that both processes can be distinguished and dissected at the molecular level.”
Lettermark
Emma Frederickson is a Pace University student by day, journalist by night. She enjoys covering anything from pop culture to science to food. Her work appears in several publications including Biography.com and Popular Mechanics. When she’s not writing, Emma can be found hopping between coffee shops on the hunt for the world’s best oat milk cappuccino.